Top Tier Talks

Posted on 21 Sep 2022 @ 12:04am by Captain Erik Larsen & Captain Bane Plase

1,530 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Outbreak

ON:

Bane had never been to this particular section of Deck 1. There had never been a need for it. In fact, he had gotten a few strange looks as he passed a couple of crewmen back there. For them, it was very strange to see him here.

A Captain was expected to know his ship, but the standard was to know where all of the major areas of the ship were. It wasn't exactly expected for the Captain to know his, her or their way around, say, the Jeffries Tubes, or how to get to the Executive Officer Office, both of which, Bane thought, were lumped together into the same category. He placed his thumb against the call plate and waited, which was also in itself strange.

The last several days had been a blur of activity for the Executive Officer; so many crew members in Engineering had been taken out of commission by the Crystalline Entity that Erik Larsen had even worked two shifts on the repair crew. Now that the ship was almost to Deep Space Nine, Larsen was looking forward to catching up on some of his administrative duties. The chime on the door interrupted his silent reverie.

“Please come in,” said the Executive Officer, always going out of his way to be courteous and respectful to all of his crew mates. He was pleasantly surprised when the guest turned out to be the CO. “Captain! What an unexpected pleasure. Please, do come in.”

"Thank you," he said, stepping in. Generally speaking, Bane felt perfectly comfortable going to any location on the ship, but here he felt like he was intruding. "I hope I am not intruding." He stepped further into the room so the door could close behind him, leaving them in privacy.

“Of course not,” said Erik cheerfully. “Your visit is a welcome break from paperwork. I was just about to order an espresso Romano. Would you care for one?”

Bane waved his hand, declining. "No, thank you. However, I wouldn't say no to a hot cup of Darjeeling tea, lightly sweetened." He looked around the office while Erik got the drinks, taking note it was handsomely decorated and matched his personality perfectly. "What is that," he asked, pointing at a specific decoration.

The Captain’s tea appeared in a swirling vortex of photons; Erik passed the fragile-looking cup and saucer across the desk and look at the aged machine under a transparent aluminum cover on the corner of his desk.

“That is actually a family heirloom of sorts,” said Erik as he sipped his pungent lemon flavored coffee. “It’s a civilian tricorder used by the first survey team to visit my home colony world in 2278. It belonged to my fourth great-grandfather. It’s still functional and still contains some of the original survey data.”

Bane raised his eyebrows in surprise as he took his cup of tea from the Executive Officer. "That is impressive. I bet Starfleet Medical would love to get their hands on that. Same as Starfleet Historical Society. How do you keep it charged?" Bane was an old Engineer, and knew the power needs of today were not compatible with the technology of yesteryear.

“Those old tricorders use tricesium power cells,” said Larsen as he placed his coffee cup back onto its saucer. “So with a little creative wiring and some buffer circuits to keep the cell from overloading, I managed to fit it into one of the charging loops of our type II phasers. As long as they use therminium based power cells, this tricorder will have power.”

"Clever," Bane said, meaning it. That particular conversation thread complete, he took a sip of his tea, noting that it somehow tasted better in his Ready Room than it did here, and shifted in his seat. "How is the crew morale right now? I know with the damage we took, the casualties we suffered and the destruction of life, I imagine it is likely pretty low. How are you," he asked specifically. He still needed to ask about the wounded, but he wanted to let his Executive Officer know that he had his needs, desires and concerns as paramount as any other member of the crew. To Bane, the Executive Officer was a critical position, one that was vitally needed on a ship.

“The crew…” began Erik after a moment of hesitation. “The crew. Frankly, Sir, they amaze me. As a team, we have been through a lot in a comparatively short time period…and yet they somehow manage to rally around and draw strength from each other. I consider it a privilege to witness that, Captain.” Larsen took another long drink from his coffee, setting the cup on the saucer with a dramatic clank. “Me…I’m always good. I know that sounds cliché, but as long as the crew is holding together then so am I.”

The Captain felt there was a great deal more his Executive Officer wasn't telling him, but he wasn't going to press. They had only been together for a single mission now, and he knew he just needed to give it time. Bane figured there was more Larsen wanted to ask of him, but didn't feel comfortable asking just yet. In time, those walls and barriers would melt away. "Glad to hear that. They are indeed a resilient crew. We've been through a major ordeal together, and we stuck together," he said in agreement. "How about our wounded? How are they doing?" He thought about asking about Lisald specifically, but he didn't want to single out any one person, to put them over anyone else that was suffering, or had suffered.

“Thank Providence we have had no fatalities. Everybody is on the mend, although Mister Lisald may need an extra day or so of recovery…he gave us quite a scare.”

"So he will make it then? That is a relief," Bane said, relaxing his shoulders. He didn't realize until then that he was holding so much stress in them. "I cannot imagine this ship without him as our Chief of Operations. I tell you, I was concerned about him at the beginning of our mission, but he really came through for us."

“Doctor Elodin expects him to make a full recovery. Lisald was one of the first crew members that sat down with me and got to know me as an individual. He’s such a nice young man, so eager to please.”

=/\= Bridge to Captain Bane. Sir, you asked to be notified when we were dropping out of warp to enter the Bajoran system. We are dropping out of warp in about one minute. =/\= came the diembodied voice of Lieutenant Aderbaijan on the Bridge. He was the current bridge officer sitting in when both Bane and Larsen were not on duty.

Bane tapped his commbadge. "Very good Lieutenant. I'll be up shortly. Bane out," he said, tapping his commbadge again without waiting for a response. None was needed, after all. "We will be at DS9 for a few days getting those repairs to our hull and systems. Will you be taking some time off and exploring the station, or maybe even going to my planet?"

“Funny you should mention that,” said Larsen with a muffled, almost nervous giggle. “I am a member of a dating site and I was matched with Krades Tenon…a former Militia Colonel and current Governor of Hedrikspool Province. He has offered to show me the Gressel Monastery tomorrow afternoon.”

Plase smiled. "Good for you! I've never been there. Maybe next time we have a few days off in port, you can show me, provided the date goes well." He was really happy for his First Officer. Everyone deserved love in their life. There were moments, like this one, where he really missed Suzette. They were only married for a few years before she was killed during the destruction of the Pegasus-D "So you will be leaving as soon as we dock then, huh?"

“I’ll be taking one of the commercial transports to Bajor mid morning tomorrow.” He gave the Captain a small smile. “Need to get the repairs and crew rotations started at least before I hand them off to Lieutenant Aderbaijan.”

Bane took that as a signal that the Executive Officer had some work he needed to finish before doffing at the station. "Ah, yes, well I better let you get to it then. We cant have the senior officers slacking off when leave is afoot, can we," he said smiling, standing up and placing his now-empty teacup on the desk of the Lieutenant Commander. "It was good talking with you. I hope we can do this more often.

“I do as well Sir. My door is always open…for you, or anyone.”

Bane nodded one, a smile on his face. "Thank you, Erik. Have a great time on Bajor." With that, he exited the room, intent on seeing Lieutenant Lisald now that he was on the mend.

OFF

A JP by

Lieutenant Commander Erik Larsen, PhD
Executive Officer, USS Cygnus

&

Bane Plase, Captain
USS Cygnus, Commanding

 

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